P.Rayavaram: As the mercury soared 40 degrees on Thursday, the pensioners have been waiting to receive pensions in front of banks, bearing 83 per cent humidity on the second day of May.
The government could not complete the disbursement of pensions even on the second day. They cited the reason that May 1 was bank holiday.
For the past five years, the volunteers used to disburse pensions between 5am and 6am in the morning on the first date of every month. But, during the elections, the Election Commission responded to complaints and ordered that the volunteers be kept aside and pensions be disbursed at village secretariats.
Now, the welfare pensioners, mostly old, are forced to go to nearby bank branches to receive the pensions, battling the hot sun. There are fewer bank branches in rural villages of Kakinada district.
The struggle of the poor was evident at Union Bank of India branch at P Rayavaram in Gollaprolu mandal of Pithapuram constituency, where Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan is facing Kakinada MP Vanga Geetha of YSRC in the present elections.
Many of the old age pensioners were on a long wait in front of the bank to take their pension.
The pensioners of five villages like Raparthi, Veldurthi, P Thimmapuram and P.Rayavaram have reached the bank in the morning. “Though I am not able to walk, I came to the bank to take the money. I came here from Veldurthi village,’’ said Yadla Lakshmi who came to the bank with the assistance of walking sticks.
Many of the pensioners sat pensively nearby the cement chaptas.
A pensioner blamed the Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu for their difficulties. He said that during the TD term, “we used to wait for days together in front of panchayat offices or other government offices to get things done. But after YSRC assumed power, chief minister Jagan introduced a system to reach pensions to us at our doorsteps on the first of every month. But, now Chandrababu pushed the pensioners to more difficulties.
The pensioners said that the pension amounts have not been credited to their accounts through the DBT system as their bank accounts have become inactive.
Manepalli Ramarao who sat nearby a cement chapat with the assistance of a walking stick is a pensioner in P Rayavaram village. He said that he can’t go to the bank to take pension by “pushing the other pensioners.” After all pensioners took their pensions, he would go to the bank, he said.
District rural development agency (DRDA) project director K Ramani said that disabled persons and the aged have been given pensions directly at their doorsteps and 90 per cent of such pensions out of the 6,600 such persons has been disbursed. The remaining pension amounts have directly been transferred to their bank accounts and 97 per cent disbursals has been achieved. The process continued on Thursday evening, she said.
